the most precious thing
by ephelid
Summary: Feitan is the new head of the Troupe and it isn't working out so well. He reunites the whole Troupe for the first time under his controversial authority to find Chrollo quickly, before he loses control, before he commites an irreparable mistake, and above all, before Hisoka...
1. Silences

_Here is my contribution to the Hunter x Hunter Big Bang. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. A special thank to EverythingwillbeDaijoubu for the proofreading! Letstalkhxh did an amazing art you can here_ : post/145736794577/part-of-my-contribution-to-the-hxhbb-go  
 _Check it out!_

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He had thought it was Chrollo, of course he did. At the very second Shalnark's phone rang, everyone had come to same conclusion as he did, that it was Chrollo calling.

Feitan had felt the tension in the Troupe. The eager expectation. The disappointment had been real. But, of course, he didn't show anything. He never showed those kind of feelings. Only Phinks could be so spontaneous. Teasing him had been a good release to calm their frustration.

"You sound like a girl with a crush."

"He's being very feminine."

His left arm was horribly painful as he escaped the friendly stoning. He held it as gently as he could without further damaging it. Feitan wouldn't want to be healed in Meteor-City hospital, but it hadn't been proposed anyway. The Council, politely but firmly, let them knew that, since Zazan was defeated, their presence was no longer required. The Zazan's soldiers massacre was a controversial topic, and the Council was about to receive the Chimera's Ambassadress. The situation was getting political, he had heard of a war coming, and Feitan had seen enough wars in his lifetime to know just where this particular war would get them.

When the Chimera materialized near them, completely out of nowhere, he almost killed him out of reflex. And he would have, if it weren't for the fatigue and curiosity refraining him from doing so.

The Chimera had a chameleon shape, and they seemed to have the chopped phrasing of someone who was trying to hide his shortness of breath. "The Ambassadress has a message for you. Your missing friend will be on the Zoldyck's fields in thirteen days. A rare power is hidden here, that will bring them you back. Let the exorcist guide you. He's henceforth your brother, a new leg of the spider."

The Chimera threw anxious glances around, took a deep breath, and disappeared again.

Feitan heard the crunching of steps which he assumed to belong to this Chimera. It was the clumsiest trap he had ever witnessed. A Chimera whose people they just killed, speaking for an ambassadress he had never heard of, before sending them right into the heart of notorious assassins territory. Yeah, like they would believe that shit.

"So, when do we go…? As soon as we feel better?" asked Shalnark.

Feitan looked up at him in surprise. Where did this boy draw so much enthusiasm from? It was always a mystery to him as he, himself, felt so empty, as every time he used the Rising Sun, the pain in his arm increased to a point which it became exhausting. He just wanted to go back home, to any place he could call home. He would've called Meteor City home, if he ever felt at home anywhere that is.

The rest of the Troupe came over and Shalnark repeated what they had just heard.

There was a long silence, easily broken by Shizuku as she looked to Feitan for guidance. "What are we going to do, Boss...?"

Feitan looked around, automatically searching for Chrollo, as if expecting to see them standing behind a rock. It was with delayed realisation that he noted that she was indeed talking to him. He had already forgotten he was the new head.

He defeated Zazan out of defiance, pride, annoyance, and sheer enjoyment. He never thought that Phinks' childish proposal, that the winner would be the new Troupe's leader, would actually be taken seriously. He didn't want to be the leader. He wasn't made for this. He was made for the shadows, quietness, and comfortable silences. He was made to be the second, the standing behind, the one who dealt with the details out of the limelight. He demanded that his speaking was to be heard, but not expected.

It was a new experience, to have everyone turn to him for guidance. Feitan had felt their impatience at his silence. He simply told them they would meet again in thirteen days in Dentora Region, at the foot of Kukuroo Mountain. Not that he trusted this Chimera; the message they'd given him had made no sense at all. He just didn't know what else to do at the moment and didn't want to think about it. They were looking at him, eager for his orders, and he just wanted to make them stop. It created an uneasy feeling inside of his chest, a feeling he had never felt before but instinctively tried to avoid.

Chrollo liked large, dark and decaying places as hide outs, but Feitan surprisingly preferred a cosy, warm house; the dwelling of a rich Dentoran bourgeois in vacation. He had gotten settled in the music room. It didn't feel like home, but it wasn't so bad. The closed shutters drew sunrays on the wall, and sculpted strange shadows into the ghost-like sheets covering the furniture. Feitan could hear Nobunaga playing fetch in the park with the guard dog. The guardian himself had stopped spreading his blood on the carpet. It made a little spongy noise under Kortopi's feet who beat the strange and fascinating melodies Bonolenov played on the piano.

Feitan's vision was a little blurry, his limbs numb and head heavy. Shalnark's slower speech showed that he was sensitive to the music too. Abengane wasn't listening. He had come in without greeting anyone, spotted the huge hi-fi, put the headphones on, played a CD, sat on a chair, closed his eyes, and didn't move.

Feitan disliked him. Their experiences with Okomage and Hisoka taught them to be wary of the new ones, but it only partially explained this aversion. They had a private brief meeting, before Feitan agreed to give him the adress. He had told Phinks to question him, but Abengane claimed that after he exorcised Chrollo, he never heard about them again. But the thing was, the man couldn't lie for shit… Feitan pretended not to notice or care, really. And, in a way, he didn't. If what the Chimera had said was right, he would find Chrollo again, and if he wouldn't, he would torture Abengane. He liked both options. Life was simple, just as it should be.

Shalnark sat down next to him, on a fluffy velvet bench where Feitan himself was settled, and wedge his cast into the arm chair. "I talked to Kalluto. He confirmed no contracts were dealt on our heads. He says that this "rare power" the Chimera talked about is probably his sister's. Kallu doesn't even know if it can be called Nen, but there's nothing she can't do. She's confined, so there's no other way to steal it but to come directly onto the fields. It makes sense for him and his family recently received someone with a strip on their forehead. Something surprising; it seems that the visitor didn't come alone…"

Feitan perceived a twitch on Abengane's eyelids, a tension in his fingers. He focused his sight on the hi-fi. The digital display showed the "pause" symbol. Interesting.

"We can only make assumptions here, but the other visitor may be Hisoka."

A slight relief in Abengane's breathing. _Very_ interesting.

"Fine. Call Franklin and Machi. Tell them they can come back."

"I'm not your secretary."

"I don't like phone."

Shalnark sighted, but dialled the numbers. Bonolenov politely stopped playing.

Chrollo would had phoned themself. Chrollo wouldn't have had to delegate. Chrollo was an easy talker. Chrollo didn't stutter in public. Chrollo didn't pause in his sentences. Chrollo had a wide range of vocabulary. Chrollo was always understood.

Feitan's knees started to shake. He wondered what time it was. This was new for him. He had chosen a way of life where he would never care for something so menial like time. He wrote it off as another 'leader's thing'.

"Nervous?" Phinks asked, sitting down next to him and taking up almost all the place.

Feitan forced his knee to stop moving. "Not at all."

"What did you send Franklin and Machi for?"

"To watch over Kalluto. He's young and new. We don't know if he's good at anything."

Phinks raised his non-existent eyebrows but didn't comment. At the back of the room, Kalluto blushed, fidgeted with his fan out of irritation, and ran outside, slamming the door as he went. Feitan heard him a little after playing with the dog along with Nobunaga.

"He heard you."

"So..?"

"He's just a kid, you should be less straightforward," Phinks said, putting down his book to open a beer can. A perfect occasion to change the subject.

"What is that?"

"Calm down, it's only my third."

"No. The other thing."

"It's a book. They put words in it and it speaks into your head. You should try it sometime."

"You read now?"

"Ho, yeah," Phinks replied, slurping a mouthful of beer to hide his embarrassment. "It's an idea I had when Chrollo disappeared. He read a lot and likes to chat. In the rest of the gang, those who read, don't chat, and those who chat, don't read. I thought he might feel lonely, even when he's with us, and maybe that's why he's still not coming back. So, well, I thought it would be a surprise of sorts for when we reunite…" Phinks rubbed his neck.

Feitan felt stupefied. Phinks was often embarrassing, but never _felt_ embarrassed.

"It's the second book I read from the guy but I don't get a damn thing. This guy, Danish dude, and his father passes away, fun stor- ok, it's sad… So, his uncle becomes king, pretty normal except the fact that he killed the king, the dead one I mean, who is not so dead because he's a ghost, and he comes back to tell his son, and this dude doesn't run on the uncle to slay him, like anyone would, he acts foolish, kills the wrong guy and his chick falls into the water. And he unearths his old bro's skull and speaks to it, like, it's not what you're supposed to do, you have to put some dead corpses into earth, not the contrary, seriously what is up with this plot?"

"Wait. You're talking about _Hamlet_?"

"Oh. You've heard of it?"

Feitan sneered. "Everybody knows it."

"Everyb-? Oh, well, my bad. I didn't bore Mister Brand New Head, did I?"

"Don't call me that."

"You deserve it."

Feitan felt a twitch inside his chest, as if the uneasy feeling was fading away. "You mean that?"

"Yep. Only a new head can be so stupid."

Feitan growled and clicked his tongue in annoyance, moving away to sit on the windowsill lest he do something he'll later regret. The uneasy feeling came back, twice as hard and twice as shockingly cold as if the very feeling was an ice block itself.

Through the window, he saw Machi and Franklin walking back with Shizuku who they met on their way. Ok, great. The whole group was here, now he finally had the perfect opportunity to state the plan… and Phinks was sulking. How terrific.

"Hey, Shakespeare."

Phinks didn't take his eyes off of his book.

"Hey, highbrow. I'm talking to you. The others are coming. The plan, the pairings. You explain."

"Why can't you do it? You're not a mute, ya' know."

Bastard. Feitan felt his anger bubbling below the surface of his chest, almost merging with the uneasy feeling as ran along the veins in his arms, not stopping until he felt their warmth reach his wrists. If it reached his fingers, he couldn't trust himself to not hurt anyone. A stranger perhaps, someone from the outside… Or Abengane. They would just waste time. Shit, now wasn't the time to be thinking about such things.

Feitan felt a hand on his shoulder and refrained from drawing out his sword. It was just Shalnark.

"Don't worry, buddy, I'm taking charge."

Feitan grunted in agreement, dug his lower face into his collar and took slow, deep breaths, simultaneously forcing his anger to flow back from his wrists to his shoulder and from his shoulder to his chest, and from his chest to a much deeper, darker place he never dared to enter.

When Kalluto and Nobunaga came in, the dog very excitedly following after them. Feitan suddenly yelled, "Retain the dog!"

Too late. The dog saw the corpse of his master and started to howl. Its groans were unbearable so it was no surprise that Feitan had lost patience, then and there.

"Nobunaga, you idiot. Dogs are attached to their masters. Everybody knows that."

"And Feitan knows everything about everything, does he?" Phinks snidely commented, face still buried in his book.

Feitan threw him a seething glare. "Keep the dog quiet or I kill it."

"Have you lost your mind? It's just a dog!" Kalluto shouted.

"Shut up, kid."

"Feitan, you idiot. Children are attached to animals, everybody knows that," Nobunaga mocked, ironically so.

"Don't talk to the boss like that," Machi spoke up.

"I wasn't here when the others decided to make him the boss. He's not the boss to me".

Someone had finally said it.

Franklin raised his gigantic hands in a calming manner, the very gesture showing his peaceful nature. "Let's all take a moment to calm down," he suggested. "It's the first time we've all reunited since Dan… Chrollo disappeared." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "We don't know if they're still alive, it'll be an unusual mission, we're all nervous, but there's still no need to lash out at each other."

"I'm gonna clean up," Shizuku decided, materializing Deme-chan. "The dog might calm down if he can't see his master."

"Thanks, Shizuku," Shalnark sighed, loosely massaging his forehead. "So, can we continue?"

While Shalnark was stating the plan, Feitan observed Nobunaga. He was the most rebellious of them all, there was no doubt about that, and usually protested against authority, but Feitan would never have thought that he considered him to have no authority at all.

Franklin was looking at him. He could feel his heavy stare yet when he met his eyes, Franklin immediately looked away. Feitan knew why. What Franklin did, calming everyone, it was the boss' job. Feitan was losing them, one by one, during their first mission at that. Chrollo may be in this damn mountain, as a prisoner, hostage, whatever you wanted to call it, but he didn't care, they had to be here. He couldn't handle this situation for much longer. At least, he still had Shalnark. He spoke like it was perfectly normal for him to state a plan he hadn't made.

"Now that Chrollo is free from those chains, it may be a reason as to why he didn't show up or why he didn't contact us himself. That's why we're going to do a rescue mission, even if we don't exactly know what Chrollo has to be rescued from."

"He's obviously not here," Nobunaga groaned. "Why would you trust such an obvious trap?"

Another flutter in Abengane's eyelids. Feitan liked honest guys. They were so bad at hiding their thoughts.

"Are you suggesting that we ignore the only clue we have? Do you want us to leave Chrollo behind? When they're nearby us and they could be in danger?" Machi harshly whispered, sending him a sharp glare.

Nobunaga looked at her with the corner of his eyes, not letting up on the murderous intent he that seemed to ooze out of him at her reply. Shalnark chose this moment to speak up, desperately trying to prevent the fight he knew would break out if he didn't.

"We know – Ok, Nobu, we _suppose_ – he's at the Zoldyck's fields, but we're purposely going to ignore how the Zoldycks are involved. We're going to play a diplomatic part - no need to roll your eyes, Nobu - and avoid any direct confrontation with the whole family, that includes their butlers, on their own territory. That's why you'll stay at the gate, Kalluto."

"What? Why? I'll be far more useful with you!" He protested. "It's my house!"

"That's the point. If things turn bad, Fei doesn't want you to fight against your own family."

Feitan raised a dumbstruck gaze over his collar. He had never said that. Shalnark was taking advantage of his difficulties to speak in public to add words he never uttered. Feitan didn't care about the kid's conflict of loyalty. But Shalnark did.

Chrollo would have cared, too.

"And you won't be alone," Phinks added. "Abengane and Shalnark will be with you."

"Yes, Kallu." Shalnark nodded at Phinks' words. "Don't contest the boss' decis… Wait, what?"

Shalnark turned to Feitan. He noted he was trying not to yell, but he wasn't doing a very good job if his red face was anything to go by. He was about to explode any second now.

"What? Why I am outside? What teams? And why I am not with you and Phinks? You feel eloquent enough now, do you? You'll deal with the Zoldycks with your five vocabulary words? We're always together! Every time there are three-person teams, we're together!"

Feitan sighed and went to sit down near the windowsill. He dragged Shalnark away and out of earshot from the others and lowered his voice as he spoke, "You know why," he mumbled. "If we need to use Kalluto as a hostage, you'll have to manipulate him. You need to stay with him."

"What a mission. Great. Manipulating one of us against his will. I'm worth much more than this."

"My plan is good. It's solid."

"A plan is good when everyone agrees."

"A plan is good when I say it is."

"You're becoming very annoying, you know that, right?"

"What are the teams?" Machi asked, quite loudly. "You talked about three-persons teams."

Feitan was pretty sure she didn't hear anything, but it was unnecessary for her to know a conversation had to be cut short.

Feitan turned to Phinks, who hesitated, but put down his book, stood up, and took the speech.

"Machi," He called. "You'll be paired with Shizuku and Kortopi. In case of confrontation, we would be lost on an unknown territory, facing enemies who knows it off by heart. Your role is to reverse the situation." He paused to take a breath. "Kortopi will copy trees and bushes around, to erase paths and trails. Shizuku will vacuum typical rocks and reference points. Machi will weave a string from the gates so all we'll have to do is to follow it. Only we will know the way out. It'll give us a serious advantage," he summarised.

"So, Franklin, Bonolenov and I will protect them..?" Nobunaga interjected.

He loosely shook his head. "No, you will be sent as pathfinders, if it's a trap."

Nobunaga tut and gave him an unimpressed look. "Finding the same paths that Korto and Shizuku erase? What a great idea."

Phinks sighed in annoyance and dragged a hand down his face. "Ok, so now you no longer believe it's a trap? Make up your mind."

"And if it is…?" Nobunaga droned. "Shizuku and Kortopi are both the weaker and the rarer powers of the Troupe. Knowing that, you're willing to leave them alone in the Mountain? What if they're to be surrounded?"

"I can handle that," asserted Machi.

"You will stay in the Mountain, if everything is clear," said Feitan. "Between them and the mansion. You will be able to intervene at any moment. I already thought about that."

No, he didn't. He just invented that. He was a fighter, paired with fighters, and never had to worry about others' safety. Chrollo, on the other hand, would've at least taken their safety into consideration.

He felt eyes upon him. Shalnark was looking at him with an indecipherable face. "Yeah, let's do that," he added, without taking his eyes off of him.


	2. Words

They were leaving the room when Shizuku asked if they would be stealing some cars. Feitan wasn't surprised. Chrollo would always make very inspiring speeches before they go on mission. All of them tended to feel lazy easily if fight and blood weren't to be expected. Feitan hadn't forget that. He just didn't even consider trying.

Feitan answered they could do whatever they wanted to. He would go on foot. He needed the fresh air, and to be left alone.

That's why he got very irritated when Shalnark joined him in his walk and took it upon himself to walk alongside him. He hoped he didn't expect to start some sort of small talk, because that wasn't happening anytime soon... or ever, for that fact. Instead Shal had settled for looking around with a charmed face, as if he found the town itself to be delightful.

Feitan walked fast, the light exercise playing a major factor in healing his pounding headache. He honestly didn't know how Chrollo did it.

He hadn't expected Shalnark to speak up, much less what he suddenly said:

"I'm sorry, Feitan."

Feitan blinked up at the boy. "What?"

Shalnark smiled. "I said I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry. It's your first leader mission, and the atmosphere is stifling enough as it is. I shouldn't have worsened it by questioning your methods. You're the boss and your orders are unquestionable, absolute even."

Feitan looked at him rather skeptically. "Why are you saying that?"

Shalnark shrugged and sent him a nervous smile. "Because it's true. The Troupe has always worked liked that. It's Chrollo's rules but…"

Feitan sighed as Shalnark unsure trailed off, "I know that. But it's not what I asked. You said the "s" word. Why? We never do that between us."

"Maybe we should learn."

Feitan looked up at him like he was crazy.

Shalnark laughed at his expression. "A few moment ago, you could have spared yourself the inconvenience if you had only said "sorry" to Phinks. Or just added a "please" to your request."

Feitan stopped dead in his tracks and gaze Shalnark a blank look. "'Sorry?' 'Please?' Where do you think we are, in a fucking tearoom?"

"Oh, it's natural to me. I was born in a tearoom. My parents put some Shalnark powder in a teapot, waited nine months, and I called a cup "Daddy" until I was twelve."

"Chrollo never said the "s" or "p" words."

"Because he never talked to us like you do." Shalnark kept on walking. Feitan followed.

"You're the boss, now. You can't talk to us like you used to. I mean… mocking Phinks because he reads? Saying "shut up" to Kalluto? He's just a kid! And you threatened to kill the dog. I know you, Fei, you love animals, you'd rather kill someone than pull some rabbit's ears."

Feitan chose to ignore his intent stare and continued to stare blankly in front of him. "So?"

"Sooo, you're nervous."

"Fuck you."

"OK, you're _very_ nervous. Just think of you saying "fuck you" to Nobunaga. Or worse: to Machi."

Feitan took a second to imagine the scene. "No. I'd never get that nervous. Nobody could be _that_ nervous."

"Maybe you'll be the first one."

"Oh, crap."

"It's just a matter of training. Give it a try, just once. Now, between you and me, something like "Shalnark, I'm sorry to delegate you a degrading and subalterne mission, but I have no choice so I ask you to do it, p…?" Shalnark encouraged with raised eyebrows and a comforting smile.

Feitan slightly narrowed his eyes. "Piss off."

"Almost done!" Shalnark laughed. "Don't give me that look. I'm just trying to help."

"I didn't asked you for help."

"That's a part of the problem."

"Go back to your teapot and drown in it."

The cars were already parked any old how in front of the heavy portal doors when they arrived. Phinks and Franklin were challenging each other at pushing the gates. It ended with an ex-aequo, for lack of heavier door. Kalluto started sulking because he never succeeded to push beyond the second one. Nobunaga, Bonolenov and Franklin had walked through the doors and vanished into the forest. Phinks was walking around with a weird gait.

"I'm glad we're going to a place with a lot of trees. I shouldn't have drank so many beers," he groaned. "To pee or not to pee…"

Machi almost knocked him out.

"Keep your strength for the mission, Machi," Shalnark reprimanded, though he mentally applauded her. He looked down at his phone. "Nobu sent the agreed message. It's your turn."

Shalnark watched the second team disappearing behind the gates. Just one left.

"Feitan?'

"What now?"

"We're still buddies, aren't we?"

Feitan made a sound at the back of his throat that could've really meant anything, as he passed through the gate, soon followed by Phinks. The gates closed on a heavy sound. Shalnark felt the presence of Kalluto and Abengane behind him. Their auras left two very different and distinct impressions. Shalnark smiled to himself.

This was a mistake, Fei, he thought. You paired me with the two new ones. The very two who don't know you. Who know me very badly.

He relied on his ears. Birds, after a moment of silence, were singing again. Every team might be away now.

You shouldn't have, Fei. I know you. I know you at heart. You lied earlier. You didn't think about Shizuku and Kortopi's safety. Since Pakunoda's death, they're the ones with most precious skills. You're nervous. You want Danchou back. We all want him back. We need a leader, Fei, and you'll be a fantastic leader in a few years, but for now, you're not ready.

Do you remember your fight against Zazan? Phinks incited you twice to switch your place for Bonolenov. We respect him more than we like him. He would have been a good leader. Choosing the strongest as head, it's childish. Phinks is dull-witted, but he's not stupid. We were expecting something else. But you, you were blinded by your blood lust, and didn't understand...

Shalnark looked over his shoulder. Kalluto, with a concerned face, was palpating his biceps.

"Don't worry, Kalluto," Shalnark cheerily spoke up. "I'm sure the boss didn't leave you out because of your physical weakness."

"I'm not weak!"

"Of course not. You're not weak, for a child. And after all, your parents wouldn't have kicked you out if they didn't trust your abilities."

"They didn't kick me out, I left!"

"Oh, really? I'm sorry to hear that. I understand. It must've been really hard living as the weakest brother. I understand why you avoid your siblings. That's why nobody told you that they're all reunited here without you, I suppose."

Kalluto seemed to melt. "Killua is here?"

It was a stroke of luck, but Shalnark was used to reaching his targets without aiming. "Oh, well, it's only a rumor, but…"

Kalluto was already pushing a door. The second one.

"It's not… wrong, is it? To disobey the boss?"

"You call him a boss?"

"Of course not," Kalluto sneered with narrowed eyes. "He doesn't even believe in me. But… you won't tell him, will you?"

"Sure. Why not. Family is family."

"Thanks," the boy said, closing the massive door behind him.

Shalnark shook his head. "...And he thanks me…"

"It was almost too easy," Abengane breezily commented.

"He's still a child, and Zoldyck's children have the emotional stability of a spinning top. Why do you need to get in, anyways?"

"I have an appointment. Why do _you_ need to get in?"

Shalnark gave him a bright smile. "To stop your appointment."

Abengane smiled back.

"It's fair game."

Abengane pushed the third door with one hand. He made a graceful gesture to Shalnark. "After you."

"I wouldn't dare."

"I insist."

"Really. So kind of you," Shalnark mocked, passing through the gates.

He used his Gyo to try and detect Machi's Nen string. He heard Abengane behind him carefully closing the doors. Shalnark saluted him with a nod, Abengane nodded back and vanished into the forest.

Feitan was wrong. Politeness often made the things go the best way.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

"And the best way for you to come back to wherever you call home, Gentlemen," Zeno said with a tired and irritated voice "Is you cut back right now before my benevolent patience runs out, and I decide to kill you and your boisterous friends who are wreaking havoc around my mountain. Oh, and if you, mister, could refrain from… marking your territory here and there, it would be appreciated." He pointedly looked at Phinks.

Phinks didn't even look embarrassed in the least. Feitan did though, he also felt and knew that they were being followed and watched, he felt the shadows moving.

When Phinks and he had reached the mansion, Zeno Zoldyck refused to make them enter. He was obviously nervous and impatient, and it obviously wasn't because of them, what upset Phinks.

"If you're thinking we are just kindly going to go back without our companion, you…"

"Yes, that's what I think," Zeno interrupted, highly irritated. "I only let you reach this far because you have some financial value, a lot of rich enemies, and killing you for free would be a substantial loss of earning. I take care of my capital. Also, I'm receiving a very important person, for a very important contract, and I'm trying the best I can to avoid any incidents."

"Like we care," Phinks scoffed.

"You are not here to fight," Zeno insisted. "I saw that. Your annoying tattooed leader wouldn't have scattered you in the mountain if you were. I don't want to fight either. Let's take this as an agreement. We aren't enemies. Your friend is not our prisoner. He's joyfully gambolling into the mountain. Thanks to your companions' diligent cares, he will probably get lost, along with you. You might meet at some point. If in three days you are still around, I will send you supplies, or killers, I don't know. Goodbye, gentlemen."

So he's ignorant about Machi's string, Feitan silently noted. And he worries more about his contract than us. This last point achieved to make him lose his temper. It was so… humiliating.

"Listen, old trash," he started. "Chrollo is our leader, we won't let them waste their time with assholes like you. We didn't attack because we pitied you. Don't make me regret my kindness."

Zeno finally stopped, a foot on the threshold. The bright purple aura surrounding the frail body reminded him Shalnark's words. He reminded the whole Troupe was scattered. He reminded the weakest members was alone with their only chance to exit. And all of them were surrounded with over trained, dedicated butlers and intendants.

All those thoughts crossed his mind at the speed of light, and something else, that were not images but sounds, accompanied them. What will I say to the boss? Said the sounds. How could I tell them I endangered the whole Troupe because I never speak when I have to, and when I should stay silent, I'm unable to shut the fuck up.

And suddenly, Feitan understood why he needed Chrollo. It wasn't just because they was his friend, not only because he missed them, not even because he wanted to get rid of the leader function. He needed them because if they would had asked him to apologize, he would have done it. Immediately. Without a second thought. He needed Chrollo because he was able to do for them what he was incapable to do for himself.

"Sorry about that."

Feitan was almost startled. He looked up at Phinks in surprise. He realized that half of a second had passed since he insulted the old Zoldyck.

"My friend didn't mean it," Phinks hurriedly added.

Zeno's aura dispersed. His shoulders shook, and Feitan's fear faded away as his irritation increased. The old man was laughing.

"It was not necessary. I don't value you enough to feel insulted by anything you could say or do."

Zeno finally turned and faced them. A thin smile was crossing his face. "But this is an interesting cross-purpose, isn't it? Not the fact that you mistook me for an 'old trash', even if this point it is particularly amusing. I'm curious. Who the hell is Chrollo?"

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Shalnark lay deep in the forest. Machi's string led him through unexpected angles, thrusting him into impracticable problems, probably modified by Kortopi. The dear sweet, secret, and silent Kortopi, thought Shalnark as he climbed a high larch. Who hardly talk about his Hatsu. Who generally didn't talk at all. Abengane was new. He wasn't aware of the extent of Kortopi's abilities. There was no way he could know that every bush, every tree, every stone were now a part of Kortopi's En. Shalnark didn't have to bother about following Abengane. All he had to do was to follow the string and find Kortopi. He would have any information he wanted. And he could protect them. It was a priority. He had to offset Feitan's inexperience.

Shalnark pulled on the string. No move, no shake, no rustle in the branches. He sighed and kept on following it. The string may had get tangled. He had to fix that.

That was until he felt the strong emission of a powerful Hatsu coming from the wildest part of the forest.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Feitan and Phinks exchanged a look. They had felt the thundering Hatsu running far away. And Zeno's question were surprising.

"He was your target in York Shin City," Phinks droned, unimpressed and growing impatient by the minute. "And you don't remember him?"

"Oh, this guy?" Zeno asked with a brighter smile. "Do excuse an old man. He's still the 'annoying tattooed guy' to me. I haven't heard of him for so long and I'm no good at remembering names."

"You just said they were in the mountain."

"Did I say that? Oh, well. I did say _someone_ was in the mountain. I thought he was the one you were looking for, because he's sure as hell looking for you."

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Machi made the string pass over a river when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. She looked around. Kortopi and Shizuku were diverting the waterway. She raised a hand to gain their attention.

"Something's wrong," she admitted.

"Yes, I know," Shizuku said, gently nudging her glasses. "I felt the same aura too."

Machi shook her head. "No, I'm not talking about that. There's something else."

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Up on the larch, Shalnark pulled on the string as fast as he could. He couldn't see where the string re-joined the ground and he really wanted to join Kortopi as soon as possible. This Hatsu emission didn't mean anything good to him.

The Nen string has an ironclad solidity, especially when Machi was the one holding it. It required an amazing force to cut it off, that's why Shalnark's first impression was one of surprise when he saw, limply hanging from his fingertips, the cut end of the string. That's why he reacted half a second too late.

A hail of play cards struck him. One cut his eye lid, half blinding him. He jumped back, reaching a hand to take a grip on the branches. He missed. His arms were hindered in his back by a bond he couldn't see.

He lost his balance and ungracefully fell down the tree. The branches smacked him hard, lashing out at him, and there was no way for him to avoid any. The fall seemed never-ending. It hurt. It wasn't supposed to hurt this much.

The impact on the ground almost stunned him. His ears were ringing, and, for a moment, all he could see was that the bond that retained him was a chain, the same chain that came out from a shadow in the trees, and from the shadows, two scarlet eyes were staring down at him.


	3. look at me

_"Wake up."_

The smell of the earth, the taste of blood. A glaring pain in the head. The noise of his own breath in his ears. Dead leaves against his face. A five legged green beetle. His numb body, the cold, and the unstable, fleeting world, preceding unconsciousness.

He fights. He has to. He tries to haul himself on his forearm. He can't. He can't move. He's chained. This chain is not normal. Nothing is normal. He shouldn't be suffering so much, feeling so weak.

 _"Wake up."_

Steps approaching. His vision is misted but he discerns sharp heels. Hisoka. He stops by his side. His voice. "Not the best prey, but he was the only isolated one."

More steps. A metallic clinking. A foot slips under his shoulder and lifts him up, turning him over onto his back.

Another chain, a smaller one, runs on him. Looks for his heart. Finds it. The coldness, so icy and bitingly cold like he never had felt before, inside his chest. An oppressed feeling. And beyond, beyond the coldness, beyond the chain, beyond the pointed finger, two scarlet eyes.

"Tell me what you know."

 _"Wake up!"_

So this is how you died, Uvo. A coward, an inglorious execution. You didn't say anything, and I'll be worthy of you.

He gathers the blood in his mouth and tries to spit in the eyes. He only succeeds to spit on his own knees, but it doesn't matter. The anger in his pupils rewards him. The pressure in his chest increases. The scarlet pupils are speaking, but he isn't listening. He's waiting, a smile on his face. Hey, Uvo. This death sucks. Never mind. We'll forget it together soon.

The chain closes in on his chest. He's suffocating. A rib cracks. Gosh, Uvo, it hurts! It hurts so much without aura! I'm sure you didn't even moan. I know you didn't. You won't need to brag to me.

 _"Wake up, shit!"_

The voice coming over the pupils is pressing him with questions. Hisoka's heels draws away. Not fun enough, perhaps. Ha, if it had been Uvo, it would've been far more interesting, but him… he is already in shreds.

More steps. How many people are here today to see him dying? What an audience.

He turns his head and distinguishes a shape in the shadows.

Oh, crap. I should follow him, after all. So this is his "appointment". Look at him, a hand in his pocket like he's taking a walk. You were right, Fei, the news is not to be trusted.

Fei… I'm sorry to let you in such a situation. I know you need me, but I'll be busy being dead. Rely on Phinks and Machi. I hope you understand.

An electronic noise, out of place, covers the pupil's angry voice. Abengane pulls a phone out of his pocket, answers, covers the receiver with his hands and asks : "Feitan is telling me to go back. Shall I make up an excuse, or…?"

Fei, at least I'll be able to do one last thing for you. Please, just one more second, one more drop of energy, the last one, please, I don't know who I'm begging but please, for him, and he hears a voice, a broken but strong voice, yelling: "No, Feitan, don't listen to him…! Abengane is a trai…" and he doesn't have the time to understand that the voice is his, that the chain on his heart moves, clasps him, suffocates him. Oh, well, here it is.

An unfamiliar Nen runs through his chest, pierces him, and then a second one, a grin on the chain man's mouth, a sentence that seeps through Abengane's teeths that he doesn't understand-

 _"Shalnark wake up, you lazy ass!"_

-and a pain on his cheek. The world around becomes a blur of colours, the pupils are fading away, the trees are leaving place to a brilliant light, the ground become warmer and fluffier, and above him, a shape he doesn't recognize and is instinctively happy to see, a blond silhouette their fist raised, but his sight is sweet and worried, he doesn't' want him any harm, Shalnark knows it, he would never hurt him…

"Well, Uvo, you changed your hair?"

… And the world darkens again. The trees move closer, and the smell of the earth, the taste of blood, the glaring pain in the head, the dead leaves against his face, a five legged green beetle, a chain around him, and steps on approach…

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Phinks lowered his fist, disappointed and worried. "He came back to me a few seconds ago, but he's plunged back into his nightmare."

Phinks fondled the boy's hair, stuck in an agitated and unnatural dream. "He mistook me for Uvo…"

Fetain looked at Phinks arranging the blanket on the shaking body. Phinks didn't say anything when he found the boy like this, didn't make the tiniest approach. Nobody made a single approach. It was the worst.

They had come back to the music room, and the sheets on the furniture had been transformed into bandages. Shalnark had especially needed them. Although he was free from the chains, his subconscious was still convinced him he was still wearing them, and he remained in Zetsu state, letting him vulnerable to infections and slowing down the healing.

Feitan worried about his eye. If it wasn't treated, correctly he could lose it.

Abengane had only a few seconds to seal the curse inside his heart, before pursuing the chain man, leaving Hisoka to deal with Machi and Kortopi.

Fetain supposed Machi was too happy to have an occasion to end the clown. He made a big mistake by cutting off the nen string. Machi was able to feel it, and knowing exactly where, she immediately cut back.

Feitan glanced at Machi. She was stitching a wound on her back with a mirror Nobunaga held for her. He was the most angry and impatient of them all. He could feel that he was being observed and turned to the suspect.

"Why are we staying here, Feitan? We should be hunting down the chain man. Are we to wait here until he kills us one by one? How many unnecessary deaths do you need?"

"Shalnark is not dead!" Phinks yelled.

Nobunaga didn't look impressed. "What are you going to do, Fei?"

Everyone but Machi had turned to look at him. Feitan mentally thanked her.

He thought it would be easy to do what Chrollo would have done. Feitan had known them since they were twelve. He knew them at heart, was able to predict their orders, to match his way of thinking on the same page.

He remembered them at York Shin City, after they stole the girl's hatsu. Their reddened eyes, their slightly different posture. Only Machi and him noticed; Machi thanks to her intuition, and Feitan because he knew them so well. They couldn't hide anything from them. They kept trying anyway. They never looked affected, no matter the ordeal they were passing through, they never looked down regardless of how they were feeling, and, for the first time of his life, Feitan understood why.

Maybe Phinks understood this before and better than him. Maybe his idea of reading books wasn't so bad, after all.

He had to say something. No matter what he would say. He was their boss. He had to speak to them.

No. That's what he had done at Meteor City, and it was a mistake. He shouldn't speak to them. He had to speak with them.

"Abengane," he started. "Which direction did the chain man go?" He inquired.

"He ran up the mountain. He took the paths that hadn't been modified. He was running to the butlers' house, I guess. It was clear he knew where he was going."

"He's come here before," Kalluto added. "He's my brother's friend. He's on the list of the people not to kill at sight. He will be safe here, for the time being."

"You're sure?" Nobunaga asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

"I'm a professional!" Kalluto insisted, voice strong and unyielding as he wore a proud expression. His brave front was spoiled by a huge gurgling coming from his stomach. Kalluto blushed and pretended nothing happened.

Feitan looked at the sunset through the window. It might be 20:00hr, a little boy like him should be hungry. He should've thought of pausing to eat. When Shalnark joined the Troupe, he was very young, and Chrollo always had a snack for him. Feitan forgot that.

Phinks dug into his pockets and yanked out a big bag of biscuits, which he threw on the table, as if it was annoying him. Kalluto ostensibly looked somewhere else.

"Ok," Feitan concluded. "We won't take any risks as many of us are hurt. We won't face the chain man and Zoldyck's butlers at the same time."

"I'm in good shape!" Franklin instantly protested with Nobunaga.

Machi glanced at them with reproach. "We're not even certain he reached the butlers' house."

"Where did you chase him to, Abengane?"

He pursed his lips at the question. "Hard to say, I was almost lost. I didn't pay attention to the way that much. Above all, I wanted to catch him so he wouldn't call for backup. But he was too fast, so I cut back, guided by fighting noises and Machi's swearing. It astonished me because I've never heard her but polite."

From the corner of his eye, Feitan saw Phinks pause in his care on Shalnark. He was cleaning his eye and now the compress was air-drying. He was frowning, as someone who forgot something but can't remember what.

"Phinks, you shouldn't leave his eye like that," Kalluto intervened, mouth full of biscuits that magically jumped from the table into his hands.

Phinks seemed to come back to his senses and resumed his treatment on Shalnark's eye. His gestures and actions were very delicate for a man of his stature and temperament. Feitan had been treated by him before, and he was as sweet as a mother, or what Feitan supposed a mothers' sweetness was.

"No Feitan! Don't lis…."

Everyone turned to Shalnark who plunged back into his agitated silence. Phinks finished to change the dressing and commented:

"Words go through, sometimes. Always the same ones. He's stuck in a loop. He's trying to warn Feitan about something, but what? When he doesn't scream, he mumbles and it's not understandable."

"Does he hear what we're saying?" Feitan didn't know why he asked, it was as if his mouth moved on its own accord.

Phinks shrugged and turned to Abengane.

"I don't know, either. It's not a trick I often use. I did it out of emergency. All I did was block the chain's condition. I put it in quarantine, if you prefer. He won't die; at least he won't die from the chain. But such a powerful condition leads to consequences. Honestly, I don't exactly know what this sleep is."

Feitan looked at the agitated, pale shape under the sheet. "Leave me alone with him".

He heard some suspicious whispering as the Troupe calmly left the room. Phinks left last. He looked like he was about to say something, but Feitan noded him not to. The whispers became angry voices when the door was shut, and Nobunaga's was the loudest. Feitan didn't care, aware that he probably should.

Feitan came closer to the bench. Shalnark was pale, his breath was laboured. "Moron."

Shalnark's arm was contracted, retained by an invisible bond.

"Idiot. Hell ball. Warm beer. Rectal search. Tourist! Kangaroo slip! Hisoka! What were you thinking? I told you not to come in! I made teams! Nobody should have been alone! Why did you…?" Feitan sighed and sat on the footstool.

"I know what you're thinking. You thought I wouldn't make it, that I'm not concentrated enough," he mumbled. "You know what? You're right. I suck at being a boss. Or maybe not. But I didn't try. That's my error. I didn't even try. But I'll learn. I swear I'll learn. You're lying here because of me, and if it's my responsibility to get you out of here, I will. Even if I hate that, I will."

He left a silence setting in. He was waiting.

"Hey moron. I've just said something emotional. You have to do something now. That's the usual deal. Just… do something. Open your eyes. Look at me."

Someone knocked at the door. Feitan jolted with surprise. Nobody ever knocked at anybody's door. They just did it with … yeah, the boss, damn.

"Come in."

Bonolenov appeared on the doorstep. "I have what you asked for," he said, bringing a wooden box and an chair with armrests which he put down next to Feitan.

"Tell Phinks he can come back to take care of Shal."

Bonolenov noded in understanding and swiftly left. He wasn't a man of many words. Feitan appreciated it.

He got closer to the lying boy. His eyebrows were frowned in a pain he couldn't understand. Feitan leant to him and whispered in his ear:

"I'm… sorry I got you in such a situation. Something like that. I don't know. But… stay alive and come back to us."

Feitan took the chair and wedged the wooden box under his cast. He went to the door, hesitating as his hand hovered over the doors handle. He turned to the lying silhouette,voice calling out a silent plea: "Please."

And he left, just like that, as if he was running away from an invisible threat


	4. Things that can't be heard

He walked down the cellar stairs, the chair on his shoulder scraping the walls. It was an old cellar, in grey cut stones and vaulted ceiling. No mould, but certainly rats. Exactly his aesthetic. Feitan cared about aesthetic.

A few candles softened the shadows of the vast room. A shape was hung up by the ankles and wrist behind its back. An untenable position for anyone, but Hisoka succeed to stretch and stood almost up straight.

By the candle light, Feitan could see the tension in his muscles, but his arms didn't shake. The chains rattled when he turned his torso to greet him. A large smile highlighting the bruises on his face. "Ha, my little Fei. I was starting to get bored. That Kortopi friend of yours is dedicated, but a bit annoying, isn't he?"

In the corner of the room, retaining the chain with one hand, Kortopi raised his only visible eyebrow.

Feitan didn't answer and lay the silverware on the chair. With sharp, calculated moves he organized the forks and knives.

"You're injured, my Fei? What a shame. Who enjoyed the rare privilege in breaking your arm?"

Feitan signed to Kortopi to cover his eyes. Hisoka closed his. He summoned a brief sun, issued from his arm's residual pain. The temperature raised shortly, the silver melted on the surface and Feitan extinguished the fire. He knocked the chair, the blackened wood still intact. The chair now was ruffled with dark silvery spikes, clicking while cooling.

Feitan settled it under the hung up body and waved at Kortopi to pass him the chain ring to his medius.

"I was surprised, in the forest, when I saw Kortopi grasping Kurapika's chain with one hand, and throwing me another one. I ignored he could do that."

"A Nen object is still an object," Kortopi shrugged. "I can copy it, under certain conditions."

"And one of these conditions is to not copy it entirely, isn't it? Kurapika owns five chains, and I can only see one. Pity, I'd like you to try the judgment chain on me. I'd like to know what Chrollo had felt like…"

Kortopi threw him a disgusted glance and left the cellar. His feet on the stairs punctuating the body going down on the chair. The air filled with the smell of scorched cloth and burnt skin.

Feitan inhaled at length. He loved the smell.

"You're smiling. It's so obvious, even with your collar. Your breath. Deeper. Calmer. Let me see."

Feitan pulled down his collar.

"You're beautiful this way."

"Your sentences." Feitan's smile got larger. "So short. You who speaks so much. You're suffering. You keep your control, but you're suffering."

"Yes, I'm speaking like you. You speak like someone who's hurt. Are you hurt, Fei?"

The smile faded away, and with a flick of his wrist, Feitan led the chain tying off Hisoka's torso closer to the chair the spikes on it penetrating the back's flesh. Hisoka didn't retain his groaning in time. It was satisfying. The swaggering expression he tried to make up was even more.

"You can do better than that. I'm resistant."

"I know. Machi told me. With both arms ripped off you didn't moan. But you had your aura at to protect you that time."

The chains ran like snakes over his torso, his legs, drawing reddish paths on his pale skin.

"Everybody knows the trick. The aura blocks the blood, and also the nerves. It only impresses beginners."

The chain slipped into a shoe and pulled it off. Feitan get closer, shortening the chain. He leaned over him, looking into his eyes: "I want to know your limits."

"Me too."

Feitan dug into his sleeves, fingers wrapping around a handful of needles. He lent and threw one under a toenail. The foot shuddered but Hisoka remained silent. Feitan played with the needle, pushing it down, for the pleasant sight of the nail slowly raising, paling, and finally being ripped off. He took another needle and did the same to another nail.

"Are they... Machi's needles?"

The altered voice, the shortness of breath. Feitan felt a little shiver running up his back. His eyes flickered upwards to look at him. He was extremely pale, but his eyes were still bright. Feitan felt thankful. Hisoka was still here, with him. He wouldn't be one of those passive cowards who escaped into their mind, some absurd inner world, leaving him alone with a numb, empty body. Hisoka accepted it all. Without the aura barrier, he was lying bare. This was probably his first time. He deserved a little sympathy. A shred of conversation.

"Yes. I usually use nails, but Machi offered her own needles when she heard it would be for you." Feitan threw a sixth needle, and Hisoka let his head felt back. on a sigh, half closed eyes.

"Don't move." Feitan pulled his collar off and twisted it between his fingers.

"You gonna gag me? Already?"

"Don't be stupid."

He took his dagger out of his ankle boot, the one with a second triangular blade pointing from the handle. He wedged it between the chin and the jugular notch, and wrapped it with the tissue, tying it around his neck. The muscles were tight and bulging, the dagger's points digging hollows in the skin on the pace of his short breath. Any sudden movement, and he might cut his own throat.

Feitan liked to let his victims take their own responsibility. Make them participate. He wasn't fond of one-sided torture. Every person who faced him had deserved it. Asked for it.

"Who told you we were here?"

"If I had known... I wouldn't have come. Trust me," Hisoka carefully said.

"Where's Chrollo?"

"Star-Crossed Wasteland."

Feitan didn't expect that. He answered neither.

"The Chimera Ants' city? Why?"

"The hell if I know. But they're here. Trust me."

"Why would I? You've betrayed us before. You're trapping us now."

"No, I'm not."

"You were with the chain man," Feitan accused, narrowing his eyes at him

"No. He was… with me."

Feitan took a slow breath through his nose. He has been sympathetic. Really sympathetic, knowing everything Hisoka did. He hated when ones he questioned were playing tricky, looking mysterious, trying to hold onto the last shred of control they had. Pathetic. The control was his. Hisoka was his. And he would let him know.

"You know this chair's name?" Feitan grappled Hisoka's hair and yanked his head back. Blood was dripping down his neck, he could feel the tension, the strain that Hisoka was dealing with as he tried to fight against his throat mercilessly getting sliced open.

Feitan hauled himself onto Hisoka's lap, dragging the points deeper into his thighs. "Judas' chair. Traitors' chair. I chose it especially for you. It suits you."

Hisoka firmly closed his eyes, jaw clenching.

Feitan collected a few drops of blood on the tip of his finger, and brushed Hisoka's eyelids. "Open your eyes. Look at me."

His pupils were dilated, a feverish look smearing over his face.

Feitan brushed his bloody finger on his already dry lips. Hisoka tasted his own blood from the tip of his tongue.

"I must confess," he sighed.

Feitan raised an eyebrow. "Already?"

"After Chrollo… you are my favorite."

"No flattery. You won't gain anything. And it's known that your next favorite is Machi. Enough with your twisted lies."

"My favorite toy . I have so many ways to love. I have a huge heart."

"We'll see about that." Feitan wedged his cast and with a swift move, ripped off Hisoka's top. His torso was soaked with sweat.

"What… what do you mean?"

Feitan put his hand against his heart. It was beating hard and fast. Feitan felt his own heart speeding up to match his, their breaths synchronizing. His leg slided back and from the tip of his boot, teased Hisoka's feet, and ripped off a needle. They shared the same startled gaze, swallowed at the same time, with the same difficulty. It was near. It was close. The moment he was looking for and rarely ever happened. The moment when he could finally let himself feel something for someone. When he could feel intimacy, and let the feel flowing, with no fear, no anger, no anguish. There was nothing to fear. He was in charge. He was in control. This person would be alive as long as he decided to. He would take care of everything. He must understand this.

"The chair. The scorching metal. It's also to cauterize the wounds. You are not losing too much blood. I'm taking care of you."

"I know. You aren't cruel. You know… what you're doing."

He understood. Under his hand, the heart sped up. Feitan felt something warm coming from the inner place he never dared tread.

His sight became clearer. He felt the atmosphere of the cellar, every smell, every noise. His usual fatigue faded away, just like when he was involved in a fight, but different. Bitterless, sweeter.

He took a scalpel out from his sleeve and deeply cut the torso, under the left pectoral muscle. The blood ran to his belly button where it drew a puddle before being mopped up by his pant belt. Feitan slipped a finger in the wound. It was warm and lively. Hisoka was groaning, a long, genuine groan, so Feitan slipped a second finger and pushed on the ribs, feeling so close the heart fluttering like his, liveful like him.

He could touch his heart if he wanted too. All the hearts he hold were dead and tepid. But it would be different now, he could hold his living heart and nothing wrong would happen. With his nails he rummaged through the flesh, freed the bones, slipped his thumb in the wound. Hisoka was biting his lips, his forehead dripping with sweat.

"Fei… What are you-?"

Feitan tore the rib out. He really appreciated Hisoka's reaction. He started a hoarse scream, strained by the wave of pain, his eyes bulging, and when he could take a breath again, he was panting. The sweat ran over his forehead and his torso, melting with the blood. The blade had drilled the chin, his open lips crackled under the matted coat of blood.

"Fei…"

He couldn't go further. But he didn't need to. Feitan understood. He was asking for more, Feitan knew that, because they were close, so close right now, words were unnecessary, he was feeling a connexion he never felt before, or maybe one or two times, but it was mistakes, it ended bad, it wouldn't end out bad this time, he knew it, he could feel it in the short panting, in the fluttering of their hearts, in the warm of the flesh, in the buzzing in his ears, the ease in his moves, the lightness in his head, the smile on his lips he didn't feel stretching, because he never had felt love, but he guessed it felt like this.

Feitan pushed the rib aside. He could see the heart beating through the wound. He touched it from his fingertip. The heart twitched with a jolt. His heart had been moved. His heart loved him too.

"Fei… Be careful…"

Feitan's hand froze. "What." He paused to smirk. "You don't trust me anymore?"

Hisoka tried a crazed smile. "Of course I do… I just… need a moment, ok?"

An extreme coldness descended upon him. "A 'moment'. Where do you think you are? What do you think we're doing?"

"C'mon, Fei… We both know… All you need is… to ask Paku-"

"Pakunoda is dead."

Hisoka hiccuped. Feitan looked at his eyes, wide open with pure terror. For the first time since he had begun their session, maybe for the first time of his life, Hisoka was afraid. He wasn't used to it. He barely hid it. And Feitan couldn't understand why, didn't know what frightened him so much, but it wasn't him.

"Is Danchou... aware of this? Does… he know?"

Who cared? What was he talking about? The extreme cold smothered the euphoria, deadened the buzzing, and his breath slowed down. They weren't synchronized anymore. The grace had fled away. It always happened like this. Why did it always happen like this?

"Don't call him Danchou. You are not allowed to call them that."

He would punish him for this. For his pride. He didn't deserve any sympathy at all.

He noticed his fingers were still in his wound, near his heart, and suddenly felt disgusted. He curved his fingers and tore out a large piece of the torn flesh.

Hisoka's mouth was a large and silent, dark hole. Feitan looked at it with curiosity. Under the candle light that enhanced his cheekbones and lightened his skin, it was aesthetically pleasing.

"Fei, please. I'm serious. I'm... not playing anymore …"

Feitan was looking at the piece of flesh in his hand when his vision suddenly blurred. "Playing…" he muttered for himself. He threw the piece of flesh against the wall. It made a disgusting wet sound that had him smirking in joy.

Hypocrite. Hypocrite, just like everyone else. He pretended he cared, pretended he understood, but he was lying, like all the others, he was like all the others ones, he tried to take advantage of him. He was playing.

"You're trying to bide your time, aren't you ?"

Feitan punched him in the face. A real, honest punch. He heard his nose bone cracking. A satisfying sound.

"For what. For who?"

The chain man was in the mountain, and he was here wasting his time with this masochist. They assumed he would stay here, for he was in a relative security. But he might be far now. How could he have he been so stupid?

Hisoka's eyelids fluttered. "The Ambassadress…"

"I'm receiving a very important person, for a very important contract, and I'm trying the best I can to avoid any incident... " Zeno's voice resonated in his mind. He didn't pay attention at the moment. He didn't care.

"Who is she? Why did she send us here?"

Hisoka was hardly breathing. The pain of his chest wound restrained his respiration.

Feitan waited. He knew how to time it, so that they thought they were given a merciful break, only to increase the pain tenfold. His experience was the only thing reigning in his cold anger. He had to stay professional. He should never have been anything else than professional.

Hisoka made a gurgling sound. A rictus deformed his cracked mouth. He was trying to smile. "I was about… to ask you… the same-"

"I ask the questions here."

How dare he. The extreme cold became electric, flashing through his stomach, running up through his chest, his head, his brain. His vision became clear again. So was his mind. Feitan kept an impenetrable face.

Hisoka took a deep breath. "I made a mistake…"

Oh, yes, you did.

"So you have questions too," he hummed, uncaringly. "You talked about an ambassadress I didn't mention. So you want to talk. So you want to make me talk. This is perfect, Hisoka. You know, I've learnt a couple of things while torturing people. Especially people who want to play games. You said you were playing? Well, we're gonna play," he icily spat. "And you are going to tell me far more than you expected."

Feitan hauled himself up, to dominate Hisoka with his height. He felt incredibly good now. He smiled. He could see his reflexion in Hisoka's stuttering pupils.

"Do you still think I'm beautiful, Hisoka?"

Feitan took a candle and brought it near his face.

Hisoka's eyes followed the flame with apprehension. "You don't… need…"

"...to do that?" He finished. "You mean you hoped I wouldn't."

Because you ignored Paku was dead. Because you knew only she could see the exact answer to her questions. It was possible to conceal things from her. It was difficult, but possible.

Pakunoda has been in the Troupe since the very beginning, but they always in parallel used torture to gather informations. It wasn't just because Chrollo quickly understood that Feitan needed it. The two techniques complemented one another. Paku's informations were guaranteed, accurate, but limited. Feitan's ones were more imprecise, but when you knew the special way, you didn't even need to bother to ask questions at all.

And he knew exactly what 'special way' Hisoka needed.

He was taking a breath. He was about to say something.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear you talk."

Hisoka remained silent, mostly out of surprise. It was exactly what Feitan wanted.

He wedged his cast on Hisoka's shoulder, and with his thumb, immobilized an eyelid. He brought the candle closer, and inclined it above the sweating, shaking face.

The pupil contracted to the point that you couldn't tell it apart from the iris. The eye became matted and dry, the eyelashes scorched and curled up. A drop of wax rolled to the edge of the candle and with bated breath he whispered, "I want to hear you scream."

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

"Did you hear that?" Phinks murmured as he leant against Shalnark who was muttering.

"He tried to say something again…."

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

The smell of the earth, the taste of blood. A glaring pain in the head. The noise of his own breath in his ears. Dead leaves against his face. A five legged green beetle.

Wait. He knows this beetle. He's seen it before. He was sure about that.

Steps on approach. His vision is misted but he discerns sharp heels. Hisoka. And now he's going to say : "Not the best prey, but he was the only isolated one."

"Not the best prey, but he was the only isolated one."

Shalnark holds his breath. Something is abnormal. The whole situation is abnormal, but there was another abnormality hidden behind the obvious one. Shalnark knew Abengane would show up one second before he did.

He knew the mobile would ring one second before he hears it. He knows the crux is here, right in front of him, in the shape of Abengane speaking with Feitan.

"No, Feitan, don't listen to him! Abengane is a trai-!"

The pulse was too pressing, the nightmare too powerful. The comforting thinking of Uvogin barely hides the frustration.

And suddenly, the calm. He will be given another chance. He had no idea how, or why, but he'll have another occasion, once again…

The smell of the earth, the taste of blood. A glaring pain in the head. The noise of his own breath in his ears. Dead leaves against his face. A five legged green beetle.

He knows this beetle. He seen it before. He was sure about that. Something related to someone. Something related to Feitan.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Feitan came back to the music room. Some blood had spurted on his cheek. He had a dark gaze. He looked furious and exhausted at the same time.

He looked at Shalnark. It seems that his breath had regulated and he glanced in silent question to Phinks, who shook his head. No improvement. Feitan looked at Kortopi tapping his wrist. Kortopi signed the number "seven" with his fingers.

"Until seven, that's all?" Nobunaga said in disbelief. " I thought your nen copies lasted 24 hours."

"I must sacrifice time to keep a strong condition. A Nen copy with conditions only lasts twelve hours."

"So we have around ten hours left before Hisoka is free from the chains. We kill him right now?"

"No."

Abengane's voice was categorical. "We keep him as a hostage. I don't know to what extent the Nen would damage Shalnark's heart. There's no reason I couldn't exorcise him, but just in case, we'd rather keep every negotiation possible. It's the second time they've collaborated. Maybe the chain man is attached to him one way or another."

The whole troupe turned to Feitan. He silently nodded. A faint humming of vibrating brought their attention to Shalnark's limp form and Phinks plunged his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone.

He looked at the message displayed on the screen and held it out to Feitan. "It's for you."

Feitan took the cellphone while Phinks reported to the others that it wasn't Chrollo.

The first thing Feitan noticed was Machi's name. He looked up at her. She was settled in a corner, her back to everyone.

The phone vibrated again. Under the 'Give this to feitan.' he read: 'It happened again, the thing when you torture people?'

Machi and her impressive intuition. He slowly typed back a simple 'Yes.'

Her reply was almost instant. 'With Hisoka? Quite surprising.'

He pursed his lips at her reply. 'Not really.'

The buzz of the phone took longer to arrive, as if she was unsure of what to send. 'How do you feel?'

He didn't even need time to think of a reply as his fingers moved before he could register what he was typing. 'Empty.'

'You need to be alone?'

'Yes.'

'We don't really have the time. When will you be able to talk again?'

He loosely shook his head and downcast his eyes. 'Don't know.'

'Where do we go?'

His fingers twitched and he begrudgingly typed:'Star-Crossed Wasteland.'

'The Chimera City? Why?'

'Hisoka talked.'

'Of course he did. I suggest and you confirm?'

He hummed at the back of his throat. 'No. Let Abengane do it.'

'Why would he want to go there?'

His eyes narrowed. 'He will want to divide us. Let him do it.'

Feitan turned the phone off and put it back in Shalnark's pocket. He observed the boy, his only visible eye quaking under the eyelid. He frowned, his face looking concerned.

"Don't worry, Fei," Phinks hummed. "He's gonna make it," he comforted, turning a sharp eye to Abengane. "He's going to make it, right, Abengane?"

"I will be able to exorcise him as soon as he's transportable. Until recently, Kokuroo mountain was a perfect place, but now, the ideal place is Star-Crossed Wasteland."

Feitan admired the total lack of reaction from Machi.

"It's next to Meteor City, isn't it?" Shizuku absentmindedly noted. "Aren't they at war?"

"Not anymore." He shook his head. "The Chimera ambassadress signed a peace treaty. It's still a delicate place for humans, though. It wouldn't be sensible to arrive all together. It's better to go in pairs."

"I agree," Machi nodded. "A team should stay here to watch over the chain man and Hisoka."

"It would be wiser to keep Hisoka with us," Abengane protested. "If we have to use him as an exchange, a bargaining chip, wouldn't it make more sense to keep him where Shalnark is?"

Fortunately Feitan was too emotionally drained to smile. Suddenly, a drop of energy and interest came back to him. he stood up and cleared his voice.

On the bench, Shalnark writhed. "Feitan, no!"

"Well.." Feitan said.

"Abengane is a…"

"...we are going to Star-Crossed Wasteland."


	5. Star-Crossed Wasteland

Star-Crossed Wasteland had grown like a mushroom, spread like a mold, to the west of Meteor City. After the Chimeras discovered the unrecognizable corpses of the Royal Guard, the rumor of their King's death circulated, and they seeked refuge in Meteor City. But Zazan had preceded them, and they hadn't been greeted as they hoped. There had been a war, a quick war History never heard about, because History is only made for victors, and no one won.

Nonetheless, everything had foretold the Chimera's victory. They were stronger and desperate. The human numerical advantage became useless, then they wouldn't have an advantage at all. Their determination didn't fail. They would rather lose their life than lose their city. After all, life had been given to them, but they had chosen their city.

No matter, they had already lost. Friends separated with a last embrace, brothers in arms ran into the battle with the same war cry, the rare families hugged saying goodbye, mothers evacuating young children and came back into the battle, defending an empty house that no longer meant anything to them.

The Chimera's sudden surrender had surprised everyone, but the Ambassadress. Since the death of their Queen, then their King, without any Hatsu like Zazan's one, the only way they could reproduce was Hina, and she died in the war quite mysteriously. They were a new species and had no idea of their life expectancy. And above all, they had heard about the Human Queen.

The Ambassadress told her story, this little piece of a human being the King chose as his companion. So small, and frail, but so wise she didn't need to use her eyes and saw the world clearer than anyone. Without never had met her, all Chimeras loved and cherished her as their own daughter and the future mother of the next generation. The King and her had certainly ran away together, not out of fear, but out of disgust. No kingdom was worthy of them. So the Chimeras built one as their image, with mud, drool, webs, and the water falling from the sky, they swelled this blister on the earth like a castle would rise, for their king, their human queen, for the day they would come back.

They were living in this peace that only a hopeful awaiting can provide, and the attentiveness only a guilt feeling could feed. They trusted the Ambassadress, who was a human, but chose a Chimera for a companion, and were so close you could never see one without seeing the other. After all, aren't we all born human? She said. Aren't humans a part of you and you are a part of humanity? and the Chimera agreed. So, when this severely wounded human had showed up at their gates, his back's skin burnt, chains marks on his wrists, a blinded eye, and a rib pointing out his chest, they greeted him. They were the worthy people of the Human Queen, they wouldn't reject anyone weak or needy. The human was entrusted to the community healer, a Chimera with a shape of a sceliphron, who wrapped him in a mud cocoon, buzzing him not to worry, soon he will be back to life again, ready to fight, ready to avenge, but for now, he had to sleep.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Phinks was awoken by the silence. The lack of the light puffs of breaths. He woke up in a jolt. Shalnark. Shalnark was breathing no more.

He put his hand on the boy's chest that slowly moved up and down. Phinks sighed in relief. Tension and fatigue had caught up to him. He looked through the warehouse door, the dawn a hue of grey. It might be six o'clock. Everyone was still sleeping. Everything was fine, they had the time.

Meteor City was preceded by a huge industrial estate where Phinks had proposed a breather. They couldn't take any rest in the plane's baggage compartment that they infiltrate. They couldn't have travelled normally with an unconscious man, a severely wounded, chained one, and a child nobody was the father of.

Phinks had spent the flight covering Shalnark in thick blankets, stuffing Kalluto with hot chocolate and playing with him to keep him awake. The temperature at this altitude was deadly. Abengane had taken care of Hisoka's survival. Feitan too, for some reason.

After they had landed, they crossed the hundred kilometers to Meteor on the roof on a train and had run the kilometers left to the estate.

Abengane had carried Hisoka the whole way, Kalluto was exhausted, sick of too much chocolate, Shalnark needed constant care, and worst of all, Feitan was in a terrible mood.

Star Crossed Wasteland was only about fifty kilometers, and Phinks had rather knowing everyone in better conditions. They couldn't have possibly known what to expect here. It had been hard to convince Feitan, who repeated "So?" to every objection, but Phinks noted a warehouse filled up with cotton like stuff and threw everyone in. The night was still ink dark, they had enough time left.

He was so confident that, when he woke up from his involuntary nap, he needed a whole minute to notice that Hisoka was no longer there. It was his breathing that went amiss and sent alarm bells ringing in his head.

He blared an incomprehensible alert, dropped Shalnark on his shoulder, and shook everyone even if they were already awake. Kalluto was still yawning and rubbing his eyes as they ran to Star-Crossed. Feitan, the fastest of them all, took the lead. They were running so fast the massive factories and warehouses were only confused and blurry shapes, and they needed to yell to hear each other.

"I thought the chains lasted twelves hours!" Abengane stated.

"It's been twelve hours!" Feitan answered, annoyed.

"No, it's about nine!" Phinks objected.

"There's about a three hour difference with Kukuroo Mountain! It's about 6 here, but it's already 9 there!"

Phinks internally grumbled. Functional watches and clocks were very rare in Meteor City, and every person who had grown up there, solely relied on the sun. The only one who took the incentive to look up the exact hour was Shalnark.

"Hisoka is two hours ahead of us! We need a plan!" Kalluto shouted.

"He's severely wounded, he wouldn't get far," Feitan smoothly replied.

"Phinks! Shalnark is bleeding again! You're shaking him too hard!"'

"I'm doing my best!"

"Abengane!" Feitan suddenly yelled. "There's a car park over there if I remember well. Go and steal one!"

"Ok! Give me Shalnark!"

"No!" Feitan and Phinks exclaimed at the same time. They exchanged a look. Abengane stopped with a suspicious gaze.

Phinks stopped and delicately put Shalnark on the ground, next to the wall of a toy fabric, sheltered from the wind. "I'll keep an eye on him. Aben, come back with a car."

"I'll stay too," Kalluto offered.

"No, you go with Fei," Phinks instantly shot down the idea and shook his head as he used his best authoritative dad voice. Kalluto still looked unimpressed and unaffected by his tone of voice.

"I'm tired, I want to go on car too!" He complained as he yawned, his stomach gurgling. Phinks reached into his pockets but came up empty.

"Ok you can stay."

"I'll go," Feitan spoke up. "Our only clue is the ambassadress. Hisoka doesn't know her. I can overtake him. Abengane, give me your phone."

"It's broken."

This time Phinks carefully avoided Feitan's eyesight before he turned and ran to Star-Crossed Wasteland. Phinks covered Shalnark with his tracksuit vest while Abengane climbed the roof to have a general view of the site and find his bearings. He set forth while Phinks estimated the right direction.

"When will he be back?" Kalluto inquired with a tilt of his head as he sat down on the ground.

"The question is: will he ever come back."

Kalluto frowned up at him. "Why say it like that?"

Phinks shrugged of his frown. "Just a thought. It's of no importance."

Shalnark writhed. Phinks firmly held onto him to prevent him further aggravating his wounds. He looked down at him and his agitated expression.

"Just what are you dreaming about…?"

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

The five legged beetle. Hisoka's heels. The coldness, the pain… But it doesn't matter anymore.

An out of place electronic noise covers pupil's angry voice. Abengane pulls a phone out of his pocket, answers, covers the receiver with his hands and _it's here, it's exactly here_. Shalnark would smirked if he were able to. Wait. He is able to. He felt his face moving. It wasn't an illusion.

He raises his hand. He touched something. Right in the air, something he can't see. Something warm, a bit rugged, like the air had change its texture. He moves his hand. It's a pleasant feeling.

He looks around him. The chains are lying on the ground, they no longer retain him.

A cycle starts again. The chains jump up from the ground and roll over his body. His hand still feeling the warm rugged touch hindered on his back.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Phinks tried to retain the hand that was touching his cheek not a second ago. It was like it was trying to catch the air.

Kalluto had seen everything. "Is he okay? Does it mean he feels better? Phinks? What was it?"

Phinks smiled at him. He didn't feel like confessing. He had no idea what just happened.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Hisoka had no idea of where he was, but he didn't care. He felt a soft heat, a pleasant smell of humid earth, and a cosy indifference in the impenetrable darkness. He couldn't feel his body anymore, and it relieved him in a way he would have been surprised of, if he ever was able to be surprised.

He couldn't tell how much time had passed when he recovered feelings in his limbs. He prepared himself for the pain, but it never came. He wanted to move, but couldn't. He smiled, or thought he did. He couldn't feel his face. He felt like he had something he needed to do, but he forgot what. He didn't try to remember. He couldn't care less.

The sudden light felt like the worst injury. The Sceliphron Chimera had drilled through the coating. Hisoka would have screamed out of frustration, if he could. The wasp freed him, sat him on the immaculate floor, bit him on the heel, an almost imperceptible bite on his numb body, an abrupt heat invaded him, then an ice cold chill ran down his spine. He shivered. He noted he was naked. He rubbed his limbs. Oh. he could move now.

He stood up, unsteady. He felt a deep sadness he couldn't explain. The pleasant sensation he just felt ran over his body like water. Hisoka felt an inner void, a void he couldn't fill. He started to feel a vague sense anguish.

When the wasp spoke, he jolted.

"Human Hisoka, before I treated your wounds, I examinated them. They are not due to an accident, or a fight. I recognize the stigmatas of torture. Our society condemns this practice, and protect every living creature from it."

Some electronic beeps were heard. The sceliphron pointed to a folded pile of clothes in the corner of the room, the phone ringing above it. The wasp examined his patient's stiff and uncontrolled moves as he picked them up. He seems hardly articulated.

"A car? They left you alone?"

A pause, while Hisoka rubbed his numb legs. His moves already seemed more fluid. The wasp felt satisfaction. "So they split up. OK, I'm waiting for Feitan, then."

Another pause, while the human smiled, a long, thin smile. His face was mobile again, and his articulation was already more sure. This human healed quickly. It was a relief.

"Oh, don't worry. I have prepared for him a welcoming committee."

The human hung up and his expression suddenly changed. The wasp felt surprised. A relapse? A psychological sequela?

"A problem, Human Hisoka?"

"A friend… warned me… The one who done… this," he paused to take a long look down at his body, hoping the wasp got his meaning. "He's pursuing me."

The Sceliphron wasn't comfortable with human expression and voice tones, but it seems, to her, that this particular human may cry.

"I didn't want to worry my friend, I pretended I was indifferent but… I'm terrified." Hisoka kept to himself to refrain the joy and excitement he felt. The void was already filling up the longer he thought about it, anticipated it. Just like every other time. Life was always generous with him. He groaned his most perfect fake plea. "Please! He's dangerous! He's violent and cruel! I'm strong, for a human, and see how he left me! Don't let him get into the city at any costs!"

The wasp kindly put her paw on his shoulder.

"Worry not, Human. Our guard and police are very efficient. Your pursuer has no chance."

The human seemed relieved. Another smile rise on his face.

"Dear Chimera… My friend who told me about you and your fair society. I'd like to thank them. I was told they're here. Maybe you know them. They has a tattoo on their forehead…"

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

"... Black hair, average height, a long furry coat…"

"Real fur?" A Guard asked, a dog-like Chimera.

"Well, I don't know…"

The two Chimeras on guard duty at the city's gates were nervous. The rumor of Jaïro's death came to their ears, and it was more than ever discouraged to harm humans. But a message had come to them, about a very dangerous human to arrest on sight. They were confused. Didn't a human already pass through? Was he arrested or rescued? Or both? And he didn't look dangerous at all, this human. He even seemed one kind of a puny.

"Why are looking for this human?"

"I own them a favor."

The dog-like Chimera had some memories both from his humans past and the time he was a family's dog. He perfectly read humans' expressions, and his sense of smell told him he was telling the truth. He nodded to his colleague.

"Very well. You can pass through."

He stamped a card and swiftly handed it back to its owner, welcoming smile in place.

"Welcome, Mister Kurapika Kurta!"

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Someone is here who shouldn't be. No, not you, five legged beetle. You are at your exact place, as always.

The voices around, the chain man's threatening, Hisoka's steps. Soon.

The phone ringing, Abengane picks up, covers the receiver: "It's Feitan, he asked me to…"

He asks you nothing. Feitan hates phone. He doesn't even call his friends. Why would he phone someone he can't bear? Why are you lying to the people who are supposed to be your accomplices?

I've been observing you, Abengane. During this nightmare of a world. You were slightly standing back. You kept your hand in your pocket. Not out of casualness. You were holding your phone. The beeps we heard weren't your ringtone. You were dialing the numbers. You needed new orders.

Now for the surprising part. You don't need to explain the situation on the phone. You don't have to. The person online is already aware of everything. How?

There's a spy, isn't it? A spy among us. A spy who is not you.

 _"Not the best prey, but he was the only isolated one…"_

No, I wasn't. Kalluto was alone too. Kalluto who was so useful in Greed Island; who is so skilled at finding people and knowing conversations.

Kalluto who wanted to get in so badly…

Sorry, kiddo. During all this time, I really thought you were an emotional idiot.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Kalluto tensed when he heard the sound of an engine coming. He glanced at Phinks, still trying to put Shal's hand on his cheek. He doesn't seem on his guards. Things were still going according to plan.

"He's coming," he said.

Phinks smirked as Abengane stopped the car nearby and opened the passenger door.

"Hurry up, we've already lost too much ti-!"

Phinks stunned him by a punch and flattened him against the bonnet.

Kalluto started yelling. "Phinks! What are you doing?"

Phinks ignored him, his face that was scrunched up and deformed by anger lay one inch apart from Abengane's.

He looked surprised. It upset Phinks even more.

"So you pursued Kurapika? You feared he raised the alert? But you came back hearing Machi's curse? Tell me, Iago, you think yourself that smart?"

"What are you…?"

"Typical newcomer mistake. Thinking yourself to be observant. Who noted that Machi has a bad temper but contains herself? She might let herself go in a fight, mighten she? But learn this: in a fight, Machi is a true lady. She respects her opponent."

"I don't und-"

Phinks grabbed Abengane by the throat and lifted him up with one hand. _Myself, the crying fellow, did pursue, lest by his clamour - as if to fall out - the town might fall in fright; he, swift of foot, outran my purpose, and I return'd the rather, for that I heard the clink and fall of swords, and Cassio high in oath, which til to-night I ne'er might say before,_ " he quoted. "Faking to end a fight you initiated yourself, it's an old trick. You let the chain man go. Deliberately."

Abengane wrapped into his aura, swung his foot and violently knocked the back of Phinks' knee. He lost his balance but didn't fall, and didn't release his grip. Abengane's face turned red.

Kalluto's voice raised on his back. "Phinks, stop."

Something in his tone forced him to turn and faced the boy. Kalluto had deployed his fan.

Phinks scoffed. "What are you going to do? Air us to death?"

"I'm sorry," Kalluto muttered, biting his lips.

Phinks then noted that Shalnark's body was covered with paper triangles.

"That… is petty."

Kalluto spluttered. "This is all I could think of!"

"Damn Kallu, I thought we were buddies."

"We are! But let him go! He's turning blue-"

"So?" Phinks interrupted him with a careless raise of his eyebrow.

"Stop quoting Feitan and leave Aben him alone or I'll kill Shalnark!"

Phinks begrudgingly released his grip and tut as Abengane collapsed in a heap on the ground, massaging his throat as he tried to control his breathing. Phinks observed them.

"There. Are you happy now?" He spat out.

Kalluto nodded. "We take the car. You stay here with Shalnark. You understand? You may not enter the city. None of you can."

"You're not a traitor. I know you're not. I don't know what this brat told you, but he lied to you."

Kalluto was short-winded, wide-eyed, his hesitant fan still pointed at Phinks.

"I won't hurt anyone."

"You are hurting me. Right now."

"Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad. I'm disappointed."

"...That's worse…"

Abengane's voice croaked behind them. "Kallu… We have to go. The Ambassadress is waiting."

Kalluto glanced at him as an excuse and headed for the car.

"Hey, wait! You can't just leave Shal like that!"

"It's just paper shreds. Pull it off carefully."

"It's surrounded by your aura. How can I know it won't react?"

Kalluto sighted, turned and laid on Shalnark. "All you need to do is…"

An exactly measured forearm blow plucked Kalluto's neck. He slowly sunk into Phinks' arms, who whispered, "You are too trustful…You might need to fix that."

Phinks rid Shalnark's body of the paper shreds, loaded him on his back and Kalluto on one arm. He kept them cosy in the car, turned on the heating, and closed the doors. Then he turned to Abengane.

He had finally caught his breath, steady on his legs, his aura blazing around him. Phinks smirked, cracked his neck, and rubbed his shoulder.

"It's just you and me now."


	6. little secrets

"And don't even consider escaping."

Feitan waited for the "my little friend" that always followed that kind of sentence when said by a prison guard. But either the Chimera was polite, or they hadn't read enough bad detective novels yet.

Feitan hadn't been upset in the slightest when he got arrested. He showed no resistance.

He already whirlwind visited 142 jails. The longest visit lasted 28 minutes. He escaped quickly and silently. It was a safe strategy while being wanted as a prisoner. While the guards proudly kept an empty cell, he was free to do whatever he wanted, every alarm was shut off. Also, jail was usually a good way to keep information and make contact quickly, especially for someone like him who has a very particular contact sense.

But the guards weren't doing their job in guarding them. This jail didn't need any. He didn't expect this. No bars, not even a cell. He was glued from tip to toe, his right arm outward, on the frontage of a seemingly important building, a few meters above the main street. No opaque doors here, no distracted guard, no shadows, no corners, no dead angle. He was under the constant and curious sight of every passer-by who looked up and pointed at him. Flying Chimeras brushed past him with ironic salutes. Every citizen would be able to recognize him now. It would be hard to mingle with the crowd. He'd have to hide and make his way there, somehow, invisibly.

He looked down at the city, trying to make a mental map. The streets here followed no plan, no building was alike its next. Burrows, cocons,; webs, nest suspended to earth column as termite mounds, earth patches moving under an invisible pressure. Nothing made sense to him.

As for the contact, his only neighbor was a drunken Chimera yelling it was his own burrow. He was glued with a green and full-smelling… drool, as far as he could judge. Fortunately, he was spared this substance. His was odorless, transparent, with a pinky shade. It reminded him of something…

"So, are you enjoying the view?"

The reverted face of Hisoka appeared before him. He let himself down the roof by a string of Nen from the tip of his foot. With his arm crossed behind his back and his leg was folded, he looked like the hung man of a tarot game.

"Hisoka. You look recovered."

"And you look disappointed. You thought my wounds would slow me down? You actually took the time to get yourself into jail? Thank you. I will now fully enjoy my time with Chrollo."

"You're lying. You have no idea where they are."

"Maybe I do."

"You wouldn't be here if you did."

"I met a hitch. A surprise guest. Congratulate your friends. They let the chain man escape and he's joining the party."

"They didn't."

"They were guarding the doors. But he took to the air."

Hisoka looked to the west, where the sky still kept the dark night shades. Feitan followed his glance, and distinguished the bright Nen dragon flying away.

"Paid cash." Hisoka laughed.. "Important contract. The kind of deal that doesn't leave a trace."

Shrilled screams, owlings, and barks raised from the center of the city, a high and thin white building waved with millions of cobwebs as thick as cables. Feitan saw flies in uniforms flying high speed.

"Very important, indeed… It seems like we are in the middle of a crisis. Fortunately for you, it's not the Ambassadress who died. She won't execute you. She wants to keep the peace. Note that she won't execute Kurapika either. You wouldn't want him to see you in such a state, now would you?"

Feitan aimed his right fist forward Hisoka's face. He hardly brushed his cheek. The sticky matter brought his arm back.

"Efficient, isn't it? Feel lucky. The green one is very odorful, so if a prisoner escapes, the guard can smell them and track them down. Very practical," he appreciatively hummed. "Of course, I've warned them you were far stronger than that, and I proposed my Bungee-gum instead. Do you know my bungee-gum has properties of both rubber and gum-"

"What do you want?"

Hisoka smirked, and put a hand on Feitan's chest who suddenly felt attracted to the ground. He caught himself on a wall bump. He moved his limbs. He was free again.

"Of course, my Bungee-Gum is odorless, and only I can dissipate it. They'll soon learn that not every human is to be trusted. The situation will get more and more complicated from here on out. It's politics. Jaïro just died. Nobody will pay attention to you."

"Why are you doing this?"

Hisoka shrugged. "I'm capricious."

"You want a fight."

"Oho, yes. But not against you. At least not today, not with your broken arm. It will happen in due course. What happened between us was good, but it was yesterday. And I lied when I said it was good. You're my second favorite spider, but who is a second spider when the first is within my reach? But, worry not. If Kurapika does, in fact, kill you, I will keep you in a special place. After all, you did touch my heart…"

Hisoka swung and smacked him a kiss before pirouetting to the ground. Feitan rubbed his cheek with disgust.

He watched the colorful silhouette mingle in with the crowd and disappear completely. He remained unmoving, keeping his balance on his tip toes. Insects and other birds brush flyed around him, looking distraught. All of them were going toward the high white building. The shadow of a bee darkened him. In the blink of an eye, Feitan was no longer there.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

"Come over here and fight, you traitor!"

Abengane were defensive and it upset Phinks more than everything. He evaded all his punches with disconcerting ease. Phinks was much stronger than him, but slower.

He was trying to keep him away from the car. Phinks didn't understand why and it upset him even more. He wouldn't let him keep Shalnark, not even Kalluto. He ignored the bound between them, but he was sure the little boy had been fooled. He had always lived in a protected environment, where the target were clearly pointed, where the client paid an exact price. He had grew up in a business world. He understood skulduggery, but not blatant lies. He was not prepared to this.

Abengane evaded another punch and ran into the blocked toys fabric. Phinks followed him and lost his trace. He was in Zetsu state. Phinks smirked. He was trying to lose him in dead angles where he couldn't watch out the car. He won't fall into this rough trap.

A noise on his right. Like a stone just threw away. Phinks turned his face in this direction while watching on the left. A little window, already open. Phinks smirked.

He faked following the noises on the right, and suddenly ran outside the warehouse. He turned on the left, clenching his fist, reached the corner, quickly spins and violently punched. He only met the air.

From the warehouse door a little mechanical toy, a miniature tank, and projected a fake missile that crashed the ground with a sound like a stone just thrown away.

His gaze followed the way he just walked. The car was missing.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

It was very hard to get your bearings but easy to hide in Star-Crossed Wasteland. Feitan's natural discretion and speed were scarcely requested.

He ran through what he supposed being gardens and stole a white sheet drying on a string. If Hisoka told the truth, a political figure just had been murdered, it was obviously in the high white building, so he would find the Ambassadress here.

The more he got closer to the building, the better he could distinguish the subtle spiral structure, like a thin tornado frozen in the middle of its rotation.

He wrapped into the sheet, examines the color. The sheet was yellowish, but it would be more discreet than his dark clothes upon the white walls.

The base of the building were dense and massive, but the higher floors were open and finely craft like a lace. Even with his cast he easily escalated, and his little tiny body quickly slipped between the white cables and strings.

He reached a vast room, with almost no furniture, lightened with the dawn light. A huge immaculate desk, like cut from rock, and an armchair with a high back facing a seat. Feitan affixed his ear on the floor. The agitation downside didn't stop.

Feitan smirked with satisfaction. Here was where he felt like home. In the background, the anonymity, thinner than a shadow, more silent than sea depth. No one would knew he was here.

"Hello, Feitan."

He quickly turned at the calling of his name, drawing out his sword with practiced ease.

Behind the high armchair back, the Ambassadress was smiling at him.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

I know who you are, whispered Shalnark. The stranger in the mountain who was there and shouldn't be. Oh, sorry, little beetle. I didn't want to scare you. The breath you felt, the noise you heard, is called a laughter for us humans. I'm happy, little bug. After all this mess, I just can't believe he was indeed there.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

"Danchou?" Feitan whispered in disbelief.

The Ambassadress smiled. "No need to be so surprised. I was the one you were looking for, after all. Please, have a seat," they invited him with a polite gesture.

Feitan clumsily sat down.

Chrollo gracefully fell into the huge armchair. "I see you're hurt? That's unusual."

"It's nothing." He shrugged off his concern.

"Shalnark has drawn a dick on this side." Chrollo pointed out, eyes glued to a certain part of his cast.

"I know," Feitan whispered in reply. He couldn't take his eyes off of the horrific sight that lay right next to his boss.

A worm Chimera, inconceivably ugly, was curled up around their waist. They didn't looked bothered however. They seemed at their best, in their long white dress, long blond hair framing their round face and hiding their tattoo. It wasn't the first time they used this tip. Until they reached 14, they were so frail and their features was so delicate they were mistaken for a girl without any disguise.

Chrolle genuinely looked happy to see him. They was gazing at him, their chin resting on their palm, and it looked as if they weren't looking to break the silence and time soon.

Feitan was getting uncomfortable and felt the urge to say something. "Where have you been? Why didn't you contact us? How did you become the ambassadress of a city that didn't exist three weeks before? And why? You want something else? You're no longer interested in thievery? Interested in us? That's why you sent us right into a trap? Did you know Hisoka and the chain man were waiting for us? You wanted to get rid of us? No, you didn't. No way you did. But you left us behind. And nothing's right now. I'm failing everything. But it's over, isn't it? You're coming back. Phinks reads some books now. We'll be fine together."

All these words he clearly heard resonating in his head and never pronounced. It would have been too long, too hard. Chrollo was still gazing at him. Feitan looked away, muttering: "Blond doesn't suit you at all."

Chrollo chuckled. "I know. But I felt a little change would be good. And it looks more feminine. I'm no longer a teen. Fortunately, here, shapes and forms are so disparate nobody cares about this kind of things.

Feitan sighed. "I should settle here."

"It's a very ethical society. You'd get bored quickly."

Feitan looked upon the nearby worm chimera.

"We can speak in front of… this?"

"Oh, sure. It doesn't understand and is mutter than a grave. Just a little cumbersome. I pretend it's a soldier ant."

"And what is it for real?"

"A residue from the heart chain."

Feitan raised a curious eyebrow

"Fei, I'm sure you have many question and a lot of things to say…"

"Not at all."

"... but first, I have to ask: where is Abengane?"

Feitan shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care. That jerk was here for Hisoka all along."

"I know. I told him to."

Feitan blinked. "Why would you have done that?"

"His exorcisms require specific conditions. He needs a place where nature spirits are powerful. Kukuroo Mountain is one of these places, and I had something to do there."

"Order an assassination."

"Exactly."

"Didn't you have anything better to do than politics in your situation?"

"Joke on you. You also rushed to Meteor City when you heard it was attacked. If I had a nen, I would have fixed the problem the usual way. I had to do with what I were left."

"Wasn't it… A bit… too much?"

Chrollo blinked, sincerely astonished. "What do you mean?"

"Too long to go on." Feitan sighted.

"Actually, this Ambassadress personna has been very useful. The chain man's condition contained two flaws. The first one was that I could communicate with you if neither you nor the messenger knew who I was. The nen was efficient only at the reception of the information from me personally, or in my name, no matter what the information was. It was different from Paku's curse… Our sweet Paku…"

"Oh, no. Don't do that."

"Don't worry, I won't cry in front you."

"You _are_ crying!"

"Not at all," Chrollo assured, wiping their cheek. "I don't want to ruin my make-up. Abengane just confirmed yesterday she was missing, I couldn't have known before and I…"

"Okay, okay, what was the second flaw?"

"The second one was that the condition wasn't evolutive. Abengane told me this one, before he joined the Troupe. He's a very efficient Nen analyser. It means only the person who belonged to the Troupe at the moment the spell had been pronounced were concerned. The newcomers were away from this condition. But of course, none of them could tell, for it would have been a communication on my name."

"And what did Hisoka and the chain man have to do with this?"

"Abengane told you: he can't exorcise a dead man's nen. We all had an interest in Kurapika's life. I had a plan. Abengane warned me I would be left with a huge residue, which would allow me to speak freely, but not to fight during a long time, maybe a lifetime. Unacceptable for Hisoka, as you guess. One condition to get rid of this residue was to kill Kurapika. Hisoka's mission was to stay on his side to protect him until I got exorcised, and then kill him. Then we'd have our fight." Chrollo summarised. "I don't know how he was so easy to convince. As if, after his betrayal, after he was indirectly responsible for Uvo and Paku's deaths, I would give him what he wanted. Well, we had some good times together, waiting for my nen. Maybe he let his guards. I wanted to give him to you. As a reunion gift. All of us partying over the bodies of those who tore us apart. I was keen about it."

"So the Hatsu we felt in the mountain was Abengane's."

Chrollo acquiesced.

"Why didn't you join us then?"

"I heard Shal had been trapped. We still needed Kurapika alive. And I was still in a weak condition. I'd be easy prey. Abengane too."

"Why?"

"The residue is only a way to settle the parasite nen outside the body. It doesn't disappear. Everyone likes to keep their little secret about their Hatsu. Abengane more than anyone. There is a way to bring it back: to kill Abengane. You guess he's not very keen about this thing to be known. Especially with Kurapika around. The chain would take its initial place again."

"Back where we started."

"Oh, no. The chain will form again, and since I've just broken a condition, I would instantly die."

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Everyone likes to keep their little secret.

Phinks' one was the cyclotron wasn't his only skill. He could charge his legs with aura too. It gave him devastating kicks, but above all, incredible running speed.

Abengane saw him running in the rearview mirror. Behind him a little cloud of grey particles, snatched for the bitumen. Under Phinks' charge, the macadam was not more resistant than sand.

Abengane sped up, and shook the unconscious silhouette on the passenger seat. The car left the road on a bounce, running through the savage woods the Chimera's City settled. Kalluto's head violently hit the door glass, without leading him to any reaction.

"Kalluto, wake up! The boss needs to know what it's going on!"

A dull sound deviated the car. Phinks had jumped onto the car roof. Abengane made a sudden swerve that almost crashed him into a tree. Kalluto hit the passenger door, Shalnark felt from the bench, but Phinks wasn't unseated.

Star-Crossed Wasteland was in sight. Abengane's analysis skill made him aware of the paper dolls garland the boss owned would remain silent if the boy was unconscious. Since Kurapika was still alive, he only had two options: he explained the situation to Phinks, or Phinks killed him, and both would lead to the boss' death.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

"...You've just trapped yourself, then."

Chrollo shrugged. "I had to take that risk. I'm facing a communication trouble with my little spy, and I make no illusion about it. I may die before midday."

"Don't you dare. I didn't walk that way for nothing."

"So in this eventuality, I have to do one last important thing. I have to tell you a crucial element for the Troupe's future."

Feitan straightened up, all ears.

"You're a good leader."

Feitan blinked. "You made a mistake."

"I didn't. My little spy is a very good one. I heard every conversation, at every moment. And I know you so well I think I've heard your thoughts. I'm a leader for longer than you. I know how it is. You're a good leader. You made mistakes, but they were beginner's errors. You'll learn, as I did." They paused to take a breather. "At the beginning, we were seven, and some of us were already friends. We were young, enthusiastic, our story only begun. It's easy to be the leader in such conditions. It has been easy for me to make my experience, to settle my authority."

They wistfully sighed. "And you went leading an eleven group, after two deaths, a betrayal, two newcomers who's a child. And an unsteady situation. I wouldn't made it better than you did. You kept your nerves, and succeeded to quickly question yourself. I've heard. Everything you told to Shalnark, thinking you were alone, I've heard it. Soon you will be able to do for them what you're unable to do for yourself. You're better than you think, more ambitious than you dare, you push everyone to their best. The Troupe is in good hands with you."

Feitan gazed through the openwork walls the just risen sun. The room took an orangey glow. "But… you're coming back anyway?"

Chrollo smiled. "If you still want me to."

"Stop acting like such a diva." Feitan shrugged, grinning as the pain throbbed in his arm. The show through the wall seem to keep all his attention. "And if you heard us, you also have heard Nobunaga. You never left, as for him."

Chrollo checkled. "The more I'm far, the more he likes me. And I heard Machi giving him a dressing down, after you left. She's precious. Keep her by your side. And took a phone of your own."

"I don't…"

"... like phone, I know. But it would be very useful next time Machi would send you secret messages while faking to play Candy Crush."

"Oh, she does this with you."

"She's already done this? How… Oh, of course, I musn't have heard it."

Chrollo frowned and rubbed their chin. "I feel a little irritated by this. I guess it's inevitable," they mused. "Yes, like a pinch of jealousy."

"Are you fucking kidding-"

"I guess we should feel relieved it's only that," Chrollo swiftly interrupt. "After all, we're now in competition."

Feitan took a deep breath. "You are firmly determined to make this conversation the most embarrassing one possible."

"You must admit there is no way to manifest my affection but teasing you."

"Have you ever considered just not to?"

"Never," Chrollo replied, almost instantly as they opened a drawer. Chrollo took out a paper doll garland. "Still silent. You'll have to use the good through the old way. The others might arrive soon."

"What others?"

"The Troupe, of course. Do you really think they would lose their time in front of Zoldyck's gates? The chain man carefully avoided Kortopi's decoys stakeout. Machi convinced them to watch your backs. You might trust more your men, Feitan."

 _Your_ men.

"You aren't coming back, aren't you?"

Chrollo flashed a little smile, stood up and walked to the doors. "Hisoka said he would lead the chain man to the souther construction site, a little after dawn. It's empty at this time. Nocturnal Chimera are already gone, and the diurnal ones not arrived yet. It's a good situation, like a crater. Ideal for an ambush."

"Chrollo, answer me."

They arranged their hair, their dress. Their posture changed. They were taking the Ambassadress role again. They half turned to Feitan. "My Nenless time was… muddled. Not bad by itself. I had… interesting times. I've faced my weakness. It was pretty amusing, on a personal matter. But it's not a good thing for a leader. I guess you know what I'm talking about."

"... Not sure."

"I'd need your strength. It's not a call for help. I know the Spiders will live on. When Paku put herself at risk to save me, none of you had ever considered another boss other than me. Now you have. The most precious thing is preserved and it's thanks to you."

They passed through the heavy doors. Agitation noises outside filled the room, before they closed behind the Ambassadress.

Feitan remained alone, little dark silhouette lost in the vast white room. Nothing was to be heard during a few second, until a little mutter: "The most precious thing..."

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Kalluto came back to his senses with a groan. He rubbed his neck with a grin, and looked around. "What's going on?"

"You feel any better?"

"I guess…"

"OK. Sorry about that."

Abengane opened the passenger's door and pushed Kalluto outside. He looked at him rolling on the muddy road. Phinks jumped from the car roof and ran back to him. It was the moment.

He came out of the car and ran between like he was bypassing the city. On such a road, he would be faster on foot.

He was known at Star-Crossed Wasteland. He escorted the so-called Ambassadress several times. He would be safe here.

He suddenly turned to a more direct way to the gates. No need to waste any more precious time. He recognized the twisted tree that marked the limit between the road and the Star-Crossed territory.

The punch hit him hard in the face and he rolled in the mud until he viciously met with a tree. He had heard his nose breaking.

Phinks emerged from the shadow of the tree. Abengane internally blamed himself. He shouldn't have used the same trick than the fabric, taking a false direction, disappearing out of his sight and cutting back. Phinks wouldn't be fooled twice. Fortunately he was hiding in Zetsu state, thought Abengane, or it would remained nothing from my head.

"You drive real bad" Phinks growled.

Abengane stood up on his feets, high guard.

"How dare you drive that bad when Kalluto didn't have his seatbelt on."

Phinks rubbed his shoulder and wound his arm. Abengane saw him charge up his fist with his aura.

"And just for that…" Another rotation. "I'm gonna hit…" Third, fourth rotation.

Abengane doubted that he would survive if he received that punch directly.

"Even…" Fifth, sixth. "Harder."

He let Phinks start his approach, but he was far faster than he had expected. His feet seemed to bite into the ground and propelled him with an unknown energy.

He would only need half a second. It would be the time Phinks initiated his hit, miss him by next to nothing, be caught by his run-up and crush the tree behind him. He would slip under his arm and run to the city by the time Phinks charged another punch.

Half of a second, the good half, he thought as Phinks approached, fast, too fast; fake being surprised, being still stunned by the previous punch, crouch in a defensive posture, not giving away his intention to flee. Half of a second, soon, now.

He rushed forward and his feet slipped on the mud. He lost his balance.

The half second had passed and he missed it.

He felt the thick aura burn its way into his face and he closed his eyes in excruciating pain.

The heat of the aura brushed past his shoulder. He opened his eyes again, looked up at Phinks.

His look was vague. His enunciation furred.

"That. Fucking. Hurt."

And he collapsed, a winged antenna pricked into his neck, the only thing that gave away the figure looming behind him, shown to be Shalnark as he stood there with his arm outstretched.

°o0o°o0o°o0o°o0o°

Never in his life had Feitan run so fast, however, he would have arrived too late anyway. As he jumped over the outer wall, he just saw Phinks collapsing, and Shalnark falling on his knees, exhausted by this surhumain effort.

From the shadows of the trees Kaluto emerged, rubbing his neck and gazing to Abengane with reproach. He pulled the antenna out of Phinks' neck who jumped up and ran to Abengane as if nothing happened. An irrepressible strength refrained him. Franklin just came out of the cover of the trees and was retaining him with one hand.

Rustles around. One by one every Spider emerged from the trees' cover. Machi kneeled to Shalnark, bringing new dressing for his eye.

Feitan let the others gathering at the outer wall he was standing. He cleared his throat. Phinks glanced an interrogative look to him. Feitan nodded and said: "What do you expect from your leader?"

A deep silence answered his question before Nobunaga finally spoke up: "Which one?"

"Good answer."

The members looked at each others, disconcerted.

"I defeated Zazan. In a way, Chrollo had been defeated by the chain man. Would you chose the stronger one as a leader?"

"No," all said in a perfect union.

Feitan smiled. "But you chose me."

"Of course we did," Shizuku said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Only you never give up when you should."

"When you don't know what to do, you just go ahead," Machi added, standing up and holding up Shalnark. "It's your nature. A leader needs to be refrained. Not pushed."

"Yeah," Phinks murmured in agreement. "We all accepted you because you're you. Nobunaga didn't because he's an idiot."

"Excuse me?!" protested Nobunaga.

"Well, if you prefer, he didn't because he's him," Phinks corrected smirking as the man exploded..

"Yeah, that's better… Hey, wait a min-!"

Chollo, can you hear this? Feitan thought, as the Troupe started to quarrel again. I know you can. Now that Kalluto is awake, you aren't missing a word.

I'm not you. But I don't have to. I can't keep them quiet. But I don't have to. I can't express myself. But I can make them speak for me.

"Chrollo needs our strength."

Nobunaga and Phinks stopped their friendly fight and went into their Ren state. All the others turned again to him with determined faces.

"Where, when, how ?" Franklin asked.

They don't need to think about it twice, thought Feitan. It's not because Chrollo is a better leader than me. It's not because there are so many things they master that I can't even understand. It's not because Shalnark got hurt or because I've disappointed them. It's because they're them.

Feitan stated the plan. It was the worst exposition of all the troupe's history. But it didn't matter.

A Spider has no respect for authority. They only have it for people. That's what made them free people.

And this freedom was the most precious thing. Above the thrill of adventure, the appeal of blood, the pleasure of stealing and spending money no one cared about, the need to destroy a world that rejected them and they can't recognize, this freedom was what kept them the Phantom Troupe.

Feitan lead them to the south of the city, at the edge of the crater-like construction site. Against the morning sun, his gigantic shadow stretched to the bottom of the hole, darkening the silhouettes of Kurapika and Hisoka. They turned at him with surprise, blinking to the back light.

Behind them, on the edge of the crater, the whole Phantom Troupe raised. A light spark shone off of Nobunaga's sabre, Bonolenov's bandages fluttered in the wind, and Shizuku's shape clouded as she materialized Deme-Chan. Far away behind, on the top of the twisted white building, he was sure he saw a double silhouette of a worm-like creature and a woman in a white dress looking at them.

Back to the first day, the first time they reunited, Chrollo told them their life wasn't a priority. That is how they were convinced. Life usually made you no offer but running from one servitude to another, until you met a servitude that made you feel like you were free. Chrollo offered them something different. A freedom disguised in servitude. And they took it again, rather dying than restraining their freedom to follow the leader they chose.

Feitan didn't have to give any signal. He rushed into the crater, his sword drawn.

Franklin's bullets hailed down around. The site resonated with the noise of their feet beating the ground, as the Troupe was charging. Feitan hurled himself to Hisoka with a delited smile. Life was simple, just as it should be, and even for a moment, even if it was the last time, his men were following him, freely.


End file.
